Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 11:43:45 -0500
From: "David B. O'Donnell"
Subject: INDIANA RESIDENTS: *TELEPHONE* to support Hate Crimes Bill
28 January 1994 / Bloomington, Indiana
Craig Resta
cmresta@indiana.edu
*********************************************************************
The Indiana General Assembly is considering passage of a Hate
Crimes Bill that would gather information about hate-motivated crimes
and impose stiffer penalties on criminals who chose their victims on the
basis of their race, gender, religion, national origin, or SEXUAL
ORIENTATION. If this bill passes, it will be the first Indiana law
that explicitly includes us in its language.
The Hate Crimes Bill, H.B. 1100, was passed out of committee
yesterday, and is likely to come up for second reading on Tuesday, Feb. 1.
This is the crucial stage where amendments can be made from the floor,
and there is an effort underway by the religious right to take sexual
orientation out of the legislation. (Eric Miller of Citizens Concerned
for the Constitution is distributing flyers to churchgoers calling this
bill the Gay Marriages Law, for example)
If you want to head off such an effort, you could do a world of
good by calling the General Assembly at the following numbers:
House Democrats 800-382-9842
House Republicans 800-382-9841
Since they are out of session on Monday, your best bet would be to
call legislators TODAY, FRIDAY, or early TUESDAY MORNING. Please pass this
message along to people who would also be interested.
A few facts:
* this bill has passed the House before with us in it, but failed to
make it to the Governor's desk
* the Governor has expressed his support for the bill's original
language, including sexual orientation
* the danger is not so much that the bill won't become law, but that we
will be taken out of the list of identified groups
* this bill is modeled after a Wisconsin state law that survived a
constitutional challenge in the US Supreme Court in June, 1993
* a federal version of this bill sailed through Congress last fall
and EVERY INDIANA LEGISLATOR VOTED YES (that's right -- even
Dan Coats and Danny Burton didn't object to this bill, so
why in the world would any state representative be any different
?)
* the latest report of the Indiana Advisory Committee to the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights indicates that blacks and gays are
the two groups most likely to be victims of hate crimes in
Indiana
* Mark Kruzan, one of Bloomington's representatives, has done an
admirable job of defending us (thank-you's are in order)
* Bill Crawford of Indy, the chair of the Black Caucus, is the author
and sponsor and deserves our thanks for leaving us in the
original version in spite of grousing from others
* If you want to do more than a phone call, you can lobby them in
person at the Statehouse on Friday or early Tuesday morning.
* Regardless of whether or not we get to stay in the House version,
we should urge legislators (AFTER the vote on Tuesday) to
still pass the bill -- we can always try to reintroduce the
language in conference committee
* for more information, call Justice, Inc., at 1-800-886-GAYS, or
Marla Stevens at 1-800-946-4646 (PIN# 1103822)
Thanks for making your way through this long-winded message. I hope
some of you are able to make your views known and counter the organized
religious right. Remember, words of encouragement to friendly legislators
(like Kruzan) are just as welcome and helpful as trying to lobby the
undecideds or making life difficult for the unalterably opposed.
Bob Dion
---
RON BUCKMIRE, 11 Colvin Circle, Troy, NY 12180-3735. "See YOU in NYC June 26"
vox:(518)-276-8910 fax:(518)-276-6920 buckmr@rpi.edu buckmr@rpitsmts.bitnet
0.5% of the U.S. population owns 48.4% of the assets. 1% owns 61.8% and 10%
owns 91.7%. -- Source: Arthur B. Kennickell,_ Demographics & Household Savings_